Only days after the Supreme Court used her lawsuit to grant same-sex couples federal marriage benefits, Edith Windsor helped lead New York City's Gay Pride march on Sunday.

Signs along the route read, 'Thank you, Edie' - celebrating Windsor for her successful challenge of a provision of the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as between a man and a woman.

'If somebody had told me 15 years ago that I would be the marshal of New York City's gay pride parade in 2013, at the age of 84, I wouldn't have believed it.'

Celebrations: Grand Marshall Edith Windsor, the 84-year-old woman at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court decision granting gay couples federal marriage benefits, smiles as she rides in a convertible during the gay pride march in New York Sunday, June 30

Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined hundreds of bikers whose motorcycles roared to life at noon to kick off the celebration, a colorful cavalcade of activists and others who marched down Fifth Avenue 44 years after the city's first pride march.

A spate of recent hate crimes in New York provide a stark reminder of work left to be done. In one case last month, police said a gunman used homophobic slurs before firing a fatal shot into a man's face on a Manhattan street alive with a weekend midnight crowd. The city's police commissioner called it an anti-gay hate crime.

A. Carlos Cardinas, a native of Colombia who lives in Queens, is a transvestite who dressed up in festive attire for the day: a green sequined top with a salmon-colored flower ringing the waist.

'We are so happy to live free in America,' said Cardinas, a hairdresser who is engaged to be married to his boyfriend.

Happy occasion: Windsor hugs New York City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn before the start of the gay pride march

Hooray: Windsor, center, said she long enjoyed the parade with her late wife, Thea Spyer, whom she married in Canada as Spyer was dying in 2007

Carl Siciliano, who heads the Ali Forney drop-in center for homeless gay youth in Harlem, said he's happy about the court decision. But he said the humanitarian fight is not over.

'Now that our adults have won this wonderful victory, it is time for us to begin to build a safety net for the more than 200,000 homeless LGBT youth who are stranded on America's streets without shelter,' said Siciliano.

Windsor said she long enjoyed the parade with her late wife, Thea Spyer, whom she married in Canada as Spyer was dying in 2007.

In 2009, she suffered a heart attack a month after Spyer's death. While recovering, Windsor faced a hefty bill for inheritance taxes - more than $363,000, because Spyer was, legally, just a friend.

On Sunday, Windsor was one of three grand marshals, joining musician and activist Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes, head of the Center for Black Equity.

'I have marched in the parade for the last several years carrying a huge rainbow flag,' she said. 'Last year, I was so elated that I danced my way down the whole street, for the entire route of the parade.'

Grand marshal: On Sunday, Windsor was one of three grand marshals, joining musician and activist Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes, head of the Center for Black Equity

Mayoral march: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg waves to revelers while marching in the New York Gay Pride Parade

Fifth Avenue: More than half a million people turned out for the 44th annual parade in New York

Rainbow: Marchers wearing rainbow colors walk down Fifth Avenue during the 2013 New York Gay Pride March in New York

Special: This year's celebration was made special by Windsor's suit and the Supreme Court's favorable ruling in a challenge to Proposition 8, the California gay marriage ban

Hate crimes: The happy day came after a spate of recent hate crimes in New York that provide a stark reminder of work left to be done

Cheers: Steven Menendez of New York cheers as he participates during the gay pride march in New York Sunday, June 30, 2013

Activists: A colorful cavalcade of activists and others marched down Fifth Avenue 44 years after the city's first pride march

Weiner: New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner used the event to campaign

Pride: Revelers cheer on a float in the West Village during the gay pride march in New York, Sunday, June 30, 2013